Just A Little Mischief
by Maxcy Leland
Summary: Link has an idea for a matchup that will ensure Marth's defeat. Will Marth's friends be able to help? Rated T for a brawl description. R&R.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story.**

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Link was heading back to the Smash Bros Dojo from another long night of partying. Eyes barely open, he ran into the daily matchup post. He stopped mid-yawn, glancing at the list of who was to fight who that day, as yet another diabolically mischievous plan formed in his suddenly active brain. Whipping his blond bangs aside, he pulled a pen from behind his ear (he had put it there while keeping score for Poker). In one of the empty rows at the bottom of the list, he hastily added some words and symbols in a careful imitation of the Master Hand's neat block print. Then he turned and hurried to his room, leaving behind him a recipe for disaster.

"Someone's gotta get Marth over here pronto." Ike was shaking his head in dismay. As someone who fought for his friends, the last matchup set for the day had him upset and worried, though the buff warrior would never admit it.

"Leave to me," volunteered Sonic, and he whizzed off in a blue streak. Everyone noticed that he had less excitement in his voice than usual. They didn't blame him. There was a knot of dread in the stomachs of most of those gathered around the post, for the final match was to be a three vs. one match. That in itself was not dreadful; what was dreadful was the fighters. On a team together was bone crushing Bowser, speedy Meta Knight, and heartless Snake. Facing them alone was Marth. Undoubtedly good looking (as Samus, Zelda, Daisy, Lyn, and Peach were fond of gushing about), certainly quick and excessively lethal with a sword, and definitely one of the more delicate smashers.

Sonic knew just where to find the Altean prince. Marth had an orderly schedule, and he stuck to it; so he was sitting cross legged on his bed, sipping on a cup of tea, chopsticks neatly crossed over his daily breakfast of rice, just like every morning.

"Konnichiwa," Marth spoke the Japanese greeting as he looked over at the blue hedgehog with interest. Sonic wasn't a usual morning visitor.

Sonic didn't have time for formalities, and he knew the prince was too polite to impose them. "They need you at the matchup post immediately!" he blurted. He was speeding out the door again before Marth could reply.

Marth was never one to keep friends waiting. He jumped out of bed, buckled his sword around his trim waist, and, quickly checking to make sure the golden headband that pronounced his rank was securely in place on his smooth, blue hair, he dashed out the door in a swirl of cape.

"Marth!" Zelda ran up to him and grabbed his hand, looking worriedly into the clear blue of his eyes. He gently disengaged himself. He couldn't understand why this princess kept pursuing him after he had signaled to her in various ways that he wasn't interested. Link liked her; why didn't she move on to him?

"Marth," Pit flapped his wings uneasily and fiddled with his sword. "Can you be brave?"

Marth was rather offended. Wasn't he always brave? True, he wasn't the strongest brawler; Bowser's brawl move of grabbing him and pounding his slight frame on the ground was terrifying. He didn't have projectiles, making Snake, with his grenades and missiles, a formidable opponent. And, though he was fast, it was rather exhausting to have to outdistance relentless brawlers like Meta Knight. But he never backed down from a fight. He ranked high in the upper tiers. What had made Pit think that he wasn't brave? He looked over at Ike, a favorite partner in the team matches. What was going on?

Ike decided to try to break it to him gently. "Are you up for the fight of your life?"

Marth nodded, confusion written all over his face. Was Ike doubting him too?

"Well, for the last match. Um-"

Zelda interrupted, "You have to fight a Bowser, Meta Knight, and Snake team, by yourself." She was clearly relishing the drama in the life of her beloved.

Marth blanched.

"So, are you in trouble with the Master Hand or something?" Ness broached the awkward question on everyone's mind.

Marth shrugged, moving closer to see for himself the fateful matchup. This was going to be a painful ending to the day.

Just then Bowser came lumbering up, pausing to give a friendly punch to Mario's shoulder. "What do I have today?" he rumbled to his traditional opponent.

"Oh. You-a know." Mario's Italian accent helped him sound nonchalant. "Brawls. Uh, where's-a Snake and Meta Knight-a?"

Bowser cocked his horned head. "Snakey's doin' crunches, I'd imagine. Meta boy...I dunno."

Snake suddenly dropped down from his handheld helicopter, right in front of the post, barely missing Marth's nose. He scanned the rows with his cool gaze. "Hey. Why're me, Bowser, and Meta beating up the prince together?"

"Us against Marth?" Bowser's disappointment was evident. "That's no fun."

"It's boring," grumbled Snake. Then he felt a sharp point pressed against the back of his neck; Marth's sword. "Cool it, Prince. You can take out your anger in the brawl today."

No one had seen Marth move so quickly. He was in and out of the slower Bowser and Snake, using them to block Meta Knight's cyclone blade. He picked up Snake's grenades and threw them back, until the spy gave up using them. He used his Dancing Blade and Forward Smash to knock heavy Bowser off the cliff twice. He countered attacks with unprecedented speed and precision. His crowning glory was when he used his Critical hit on all three at once. His friends, watching, cheered.

But Bowser pounded Marth on the ground six times. Snake choked him and threw him off the cliff on several occasions. And Meta Knight dive bombed him over and over. He was blasted with fire and bullets from all sides. He respawned more times than he could keep track of. Ike accidentally crushed the armrests of his chair as he watched his friend being beaten in an unfair fight. Unable to look any longer, he hurried off to his room.

And, sure enough, panting and sweating, Bowser, Snake, and Meta Knight did a victory pose while Marth clapped. But then the trio defied tradition and turned to clap for Marth.

"I was wrong, Prince. You're a force to be reckoned with." Snake nodded his approval. Bowser grunted his agreement, there was nothing he liked more than a good fight. Meta Knight's face was hidden by his helmet and so remained as inscrutable as ever, but he clapped along with his teammates. Marth flushed with pride and pleasure.

Suddenly something was hurled into the arena. From the stands they could hear Ike call, "You're not done yet, Marth. It's payback time."

They turned to see Link rising unsteadily to his feet. "Aw, come on, Marth. You gotta take a joke. It was a pretty funny matchup." He chuckled nervously as Marth drew his sword.

Marth turned toward the audience, a small smirk on his flawless face. He twirled his sword, pointed it at the ground and said, "Konkai wa boku no kachi da ne?" (This time it's my victory, isn't it?)

Zelda swooned and Link clapped sullenly in the background.

Ike strode over and winked at Marth, "I sleuth for my friends too."

Marth grinned and said in Japanese to the one friend who understood the language, "Thank you. I was going to have to track him down later. I've seen many forgeries in my sixteen years, but I felt compelled for honor's sake to first show Snake that I wasn't a bore."

Ike clapped Marth on the back with a laugh, and together the two friends watched as their smash bros gave Link what for.

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 **I'm very sorry for the characters being OOC. I was having fun, and I don't portray characters the way that I actually think they are/should be in my humor stories.**


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